Thanksgiving Stories

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2) I’m not actually that big of a fan of most of the foods that are traditionally served for this meal. They’re ok. I’ll eat them with gratitude if someone else wants to make them. Filling my sink with dirty dishes to make them though? No, thanks.

What I will do instead is share a few fun holiday stories. I’m 90% sure that both these events happened during Thanksgiving. (It was either then or at Christmas. For the sake of good storytelling, I’m going to assume it was the former. 🙂 )

Story #1

Many years ago my parents had three small children, lived thousands of miles away from extended family, and were planning a holiday dinner that wouldn’t require them to spend any more money at the grocery store. Simply put, there wasn’t anything budgeted for special food that year. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

We were surprised to see our neighbour standing there because she was normally so reticent to leave her house. (She thought the government was spying on her and had come up with a long list of rules to keep herself safe.). She gave us a bird and a few prepackaged side dishes. She rarely made pleasant – or any – small talk with anyone in the neighbourhood. And yet somehow she sensed a need and filled it.

Is this what he saw?

It was a delicious meal. Even more than two decades later I’m touched by her generosity. We wouldn’t have starved, but we sure would have eaten a lot of oatmeal until the next payday!

Story #2

Not quite so many years ago my family was once again living in Ohio. The drive to my grandparents’ house was only about half an hour, which meant that we finally got to see them for the holidays again every year! Most of that drive happened on back country roads surrounded by forests. This is important for reasons you’ll soon learn.

My brothers and I were the closest things to city kids that existed in northwest Ohio. We lived in one of the bigger small towns there and spent most of our free time doing things that weren’t at all related to hunting, fishing, or farming. All three of us preferred things that had motors, screens, and/or buttons.

So it wasn’t that much of a surprise when one of my siblings pointed at the woods suddenly exclaimed, “I see a wild thing!”

(I’ll leave it up to the sibling in question to reveal himself…if he chooses to do so. 😉 )

Mom and dad caught a glimpse of the wild thing before it drifted back into the woods. I think it might have been a wild turkey, but I’m not 100% sure that’s what our wildlife-experienced parents actually said.